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The Episcopal Conference of France reported this Monday, November 7, that eleven bishops in office or retired are the subject of proceedings before the Justice or canonical instances, for accusations of sexual violence. Among them is the religious leader Jean-Pierre Ricard, who confessed to assaulting a minor 35 years ago.
A new sexual violence scandal shakes the Catholic Church in France. The authorities reported this November 7 that eleven bishops have been accused of sexual abuse.
All those named face disciplinary proceedings or ecclesiastical prosecutions, Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the country’s Episcopal Conference, assured the press, which on Monday launched nine working groups to address the problem.
#UPDATE Eleven former or serving French bishops have been accused of sexual violence, including the former bishop of Bordeaux who has confessed to assaulting a minor 35 years ago, a senior church body announced Monday. pic.twitter.com/MSdUpSF06o
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 7, 2022
One of the accused is Michel Santier, former head of the diocese of Créteil, on the outskirts of Paris, who was disciplined by the Vatican in October 2021 for assaults recorded in the 1990s against two young adults, when he He served as a priest.
The announcement of these investigations occurs at a time when the 90th Plenary Assembly of the French Catholic Church is taking place, which began on November 3 and will conclude on Tuesday, November 8.
A meeting in Lourdes, southwestern France, in which the religious discuss ways to improve their communication and transparency regarding long-standing accusations of sexual crimes against the clergy.
French cardinal confesses that he abused a 14-year-old girl and announces his retirement
Among the eleven investigated confirmed by the Episcopal Conference of France is Jean-Pierre Ricard, who served as Bishop of Bordeaux between 2001 and 2019, and confessed to having assaulted a minor more than three decades ago.
“35 years ago, when I was a parish priest, I behaved reprehensibly with a 14-year-old girl. My behavior has inevitably had serious and lasting consequences for this person,” Ricard acknowledged in a statement.
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard said on Monday that he had abused a 14-year-old girl several decades ago and was making himself available to authorities. https://t.co/OTVDF72EXL
— Catholic News Agency (@cnlive) November 7, 2022
The man, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, apologized and said he would step down from his duties and make himself available to judicial and church authorities.
These are the latest revelations affecting the Roman Catholic Church, which has been rocked by crimes of sexual violence around the world, whose victims are usually minors, according to investigations involving cases spanning decades.
In France last year, an independent investigation indicated that the country’s clergy had sexually abused more than 200,000 children in the past 70 years. In addition, the authors of the investigation pointed out that the church authorities ignored these serious events for many years.
With Reuters, AFP and EFE
